Kronos Posted October 19, 2014 Report Share Posted October 19, 2014 I watched the Zbyszko WWF 1980 timeline on Friday. It was ok, but I found Larry's claims that the McMahons were nearly bankrupt because Backlund wasn't drawing to be so ludicrous that it tarnished the rest of the show for me. Seriously, if Backlund was that bad for business he would have lost the championship and someone else would have got the call. Maybe Sr liked to give the boys the impression that he was broke so he didn't have pay as much? And Larry assumes it's because Backlund? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliott Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 I just watched La Momia vs Martin Kardagian And it was so much fucking fun. This is quite the spectacle with little kids looking absolutely petrified by La Momia. The way La Momia is walking to the ring and breathing is really creepy. This starts off like Don Frye vs Takayama with these guys just blasting each other in the head and face. La Momia keeps trying to choke Kardagian and the camera keeps showing little kids who look like they're about to burst into tears because Kardagian is probably about to get killed in front of them. La Momia takes a few backdrops. Insanely hot crowd This is awesome and was posted to youtube in late August. Everyone should watch it. It only took 4 minutes but clearly La Momia is the #1 greatest of all time. I will watch everything I can find from Titanes en el Ring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamthedoctor Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 Last thing I watched was the Smackdown in 1999 when Steve Austin made his return after the Buried Alive Tag Match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stomperspc Posted October 21, 2014 Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 I watched a bunch of wXw over the past few days - the World Triangle League shows and their "Ambition" shoot-style tournament show. I thought this one of the better "Ambition" tournaments they've done (this would be the 5th). The overarching issue is still that they don't utilize any of the necessary rules needed to make shoot style matches work. There is no point system for escapes/knockdowns which hurts things. The other main issue is that none of the tournament participants had a strong grasp on how to handle stand up sections. Rico Bushido was the only one who had a game plan in that regard with some nice kicks and even jabs. The others tentatively threw open hand slaps or just went in for takedowns/throws at every opportunity. If shoot style matches are going to work today (and that might not even be possible) the stand up sections (striking, blocking take downs, keeping separation between you and your opponent) have to look good because everyone knows how that is supposed to look in MMA now. There was not a lot of good-looking stand up going on here. Davey Boy Smith, Jr. had a "Super Fight" (ie. non-tournament match) on the card. Of all the participants, he seems like the one who would fair best in a properly done shoot-style promotion if such a thing existed today. While a lot of the guys were guilty of focusing on making the mat work look "right" to the detriment of any excitement, Smith pulled out a few neat tricks. He had a nice cartwheel at one point to pass the guard and the finish was actually a sharpshooter that came off relatively natural and not nearly as goofy as it might sounds on paper. He threw some nice knees, his takedowns were good, and you could tell he had an idea of what to do on the mat. You see a lot of that stuff in his Nakamura matches as well. Rico Bushio (who was doing a kickboxing gimmick) tried some neat stuff, too, in his matches. Drew Gulak & Zack Sabre, Jr. had a first round match that didn't click. Its difficult for pro style wrestlers to adjust to this style and Gulak wasn't able to, especially since they were given 13+ minutes to fill. One of the better Ambition tournaments in terms of there being enough interesting stuff in every match that I felt it was worth watching, but as individual matches there wasn't a single one that I'd consider a good shoot-style match. As for the World Triangle League shows, I am not done with them yet but it has been a mixed bag. The first show had a pair of 20-minute draws. Both the Zack Sabre Jr./Jonathan Gresham matches and Drew Gulak/Biff Busick. The former was the better match. I think Busick/Gulak/Thatcher have gotten progressively better this year the more they work each other, but this was a step backwards. They weren't able to fill the 20 minutes in any interesting manner and it is not a matter of saying simple = bad. All other things equal, I prefer matches to be kept simple as long as it is good, simple work. That's not the case here and it made for a pretty dull/poor draw. Gresham/Sabre Jr., while not perfect, did a much better job filling the 20-minutes. It was interesting to compare how each match handled the task of a 20-minute draw. Tommy End had another pair of solid matches. I really liked his match against Liger from the first night. As I said in the Liger GWE thread, Liger has had a handful of solid, varied singles matches this year. This was another one. The 2/3 falls title match with End and Big Daddy Walter might have went a tad over board at the end in terms of kick outs at the end, but contextually this was a big match in the promotion so I thought that offset it a bit. End is a really solid wrestler who I could see becoming very good if he traveled a bit more and added a little more variety to his resume. He has a lot of the tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruiserBrody Posted October 23, 2014 Report Share Posted October 23, 2014 http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wcw-great-american-bash-1991/#.VEkn0cmmU1IThe infamous Bash 91 where Ric Flair left WCW beforehand... Luger collides with Barry Windham for the World title...plus a Scaffold match with no big bump...El Gigante and One Man Gang trying to set a new record for suck...OZ in action again... Sting and Nikita battle in a Russian Chain match...The Rock and Roll Express prove even they can be a cure for insomnia...plus Missy Hyatt naked and other clashes of limited consequence!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Evans Posted October 24, 2014 Report Share Posted October 24, 2014 I've been watching a lot of Southern indies from 2000 lately. Mostly Power Pro and Memphis Championship wrestling. MCW was interesting because for the first part of the year, it was pretty racy for a WWF developmental promotion. You had people like Jasmin St. Claire and Al coholic in the company. I know it started as Kick Ass wrestling which took part in bars before Lawler joined after leaving Power Pro. The wrestling isn't very good but towards the end of the year it got better when guys like Regal, American Dragon, Reckless Youth and Spanky showed up. You also had the Mean Street Posse, Big Vis, Tracy Smothers, Truth and Headbanger Thrasher on the roaster too. Regal becoming the mentor to the Posse which leads to Rodney and Pete Gas turning on Joey Abs was pretty good. Truth was feuding with Lawler over Stacy and Lawler also faced Eddie Guerrero which i missed sadly. Even back in 2000, Dragon was great. He had an awesome match with Spanky in September that should be on the yearbook. Power pro 2000 was pretty much a extension of the later years of USWA. Some young guys around in the undercard(Derrick King, Ali and some others) but it was still dominated by guys like Spellbinder, Wolfie D and even Bill Dundee. Lawler came back to Power Pro in 2000 which I believe leads to both promotions have a feud and eventually merging before Power Pro closed in 2001. I've also been watching some OVW 2000 and it was interesting to see Wolfie/Slash work both OVW and Power Pro at the same time. Also Big show feuding with Batista in 2000 is interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Lex Luger & A Mystery Partner vs. Big Cat & Motor City Madman from WCWSN. I don't particularly recall what the eventual payoff was (or if this was it) but the mystery partner is a babyface Vader. I know he did that match with Stan Hansen on PPV, but it was just jarring to see Vader on the other side of the fence that early into his WCW run. Possibly a test run or some kind to see what reaction he would draw? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Wow. Babyface monster Vader. That is something. Great find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruiserBrody Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Vader was booked odd during his first year. He came in as a heel and squashed Zenk, then had a mini babyface run, then once he signed on full time became a heel again. Don't try and figure out Mr. Hughes around this point either as he's got issues with Luger and heel Sid similtaneously and then his top of the card push stops abruptly and he works low end guys for a while before joining the York Foundation for a few weeks and then is shot back up as Luger's cornerman...and teams with Vader... http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/the-monday-night-wars-week-31-april-1st-1996/#.VEwzUsmmU1KAnother big week as the WWF has 2 familiar faces debut the night after Wrestlemania - WCW competes by having Hulk Hogan in yet another match with the Dungeon/Horsemen, Luger vs. Flair and Sting vs. The Giant!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kronos Posted October 25, 2014 Report Share Posted October 25, 2014 Wow. Babyface monster Vader. That is something. Great find.I'm watching Fully Loaded 98 right now, and they just had Henry vs Vader. Terrible match. Vader is obviously taking it easy with the green Henry. He comes across as gentle and even tentative. I hate Vader Time Vader. Oh but imagine the greatness of prime monster Vader vs circa 2011 Henry. Wrestlegasm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilTLL Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 Butch Reed vs. Dick Murdoch, Pro 4/15/89 Butch Reed vs. Ricky Steamboat, Pro 6/3/89 & 6/10/89 So apparently Pro is where all the good matches from Reed's little pre-Doom singles run are hiding out. These are three good solid TV main events. The Murdoch match is immediately familiar if you saw their '85 ones, though it has an awful random schmozz finish. The first Steamboat match is probably the best of the three, but the rematch is quite a bit too short. The 6/3 and 6/10 episodes also feature a pair of electric Sting/Funk confrontations, the first verbal and the second physical. The 6/10 one also has Missy getting misted by Muta and is just a really fun hour of TV overall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted October 27, 2014 Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/the-monday-night-wars-week-31-april-1st-1996/#.VEwzUsmmU1K Another big week as the WWF has 2 familiar faces debut the night after Wrestlemania - WCW competes by having Hulk Hogan in yet another match with the Dungeon/Horsemen, Luger vs. Flair and Sting vs. The Giant!! Not 100% on this, but I think that might have been the first Nitro shown in the UK. I remember it being advertised in the kids section of the Daily Mirror one Saturday and the very next Friday I got me a pizza and had it taped by my uncle, watched the shit out of it since WCW had vanished from Tyne Tees in 1992. I think I saw a Hollywood Blonds match in Ireland while on holiday but that might be about it. In the meantime, have this showdown between ZEB COLTER & THE UNDERTAKER vs. JERRY LAWLER & SYCHO SID. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdZmtXMBWn4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texaspedro Posted October 27, 2014 Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 Mi hermano gave me a copy of WWE's Greatest Rivalries: Shawn Michaels vs Bret Hart DVD set and I just watched the 1st disc, the sitdown interview with Brett & HBK.. WOW! Very engrossing interview, especially from the build up to Montreal to the end. Haven't watched the matches but definitely will this week. But really enjoyed the interview section of this set. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruiserBrody Posted October 28, 2014 Report Share Posted October 28, 2014 http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/clash-of-the-champions-16-fall-brawl-91/#.VE-Yz8mmU1I We start with tons of news from recent WCW events - both on and off camera. Then we move on to the action where Ron Simmons receives a hard push to prep him for his first PPV headlining role, Rick Steiner and Bill Kazmaier battle The Enforcers, Steve Austin tries to fend off the Z-man, a battle royal, Van Hammer debuts, Sting wrestles in one of the worst matches of his career against Johnny B Badd, and other action! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruiserBrody Posted October 31, 2014 Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/halloween-havoc-91/#.VFOYRMmmU1I Wrestlecrap meets bad booking as THE CHAMBER OF HORRORS sees 10 of WCW's best confined into a cell full of weapons and electricity! Plus Phantoms and Creatures wrestle! BOOOOO! (Am I mad or making ghost sounds?) More OZ matches as he battles Bill Kazmaier, The Freebirds stink up the place again, Van Hammer wrestles a jobber (only on PPV!) Ron Simmons dreams of being world champ are undone by his own hand...and in between all the crap, Bobby Eaton and Terry Taylor try and steal the show before young studs Dustin Rhodes and Steve Austin can leave their own mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilTLL Posted November 4, 2014 Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 My WCW rewatch has reached Capital Combat, and I have never seen any of it except for Steiners-Doom. Expect this post to be edited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ButchReedMark Posted November 4, 2014 Report Share Posted November 4, 2014 The edited VHS was a love letter to solid tag team wrestling if I remember correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BohsJohnny Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 60 year old Fuchi bringing the goods for hooked up to life support All Japan http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x298g50_kento-miyahara-kotaro-suzuki-c-vs-jun-akiyama-masanobu-fuchi-ajpw_sport Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilTLL Posted November 7, 2014 Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 Well, I knew Capital Combat had a dicey reputation, and it lived up to it. - The six-man opener was inoffensively short and had a nice set of personalities. Cactus takes plenty of Cactus bumps. But this is emblematic of the running in place the Road Warriors were doing. There was literally nothing left for them as a result of being feuded with every heel team within the last 12 months and giving no one any reason to want more. - Mean Mark vs. Johnny Ace was okay. I wonder what would have become of ol' Mark if the Undertaker never happened. He's a decent low-rent Windham type here, speed + impact + a little top-rope stuff. - SST vs. Rotunda/Rich was an absolute wasteland. Rotunda does the FIP segment, which is a huge mistake, and it is eternal and somnolent (to be fair no help from the mega lazy SST tonight). However it does mean we get to see Rotunda get kicked in the face several times. SST's craven heeling and trash-talking is mildly entertaining--they do the brother-hits-brother spot but hug it out, and the crowd loudly responds "AWWWW!" Ha! But only mildly entertaining for a minute. - I believe here is where they stuck the Horsemen for a crowd-rousing promo, and it worked beautifully. Sorry, I watched this over two days, but I remember the promo being really terrific. - Teddy vs. Ellering was whatever. Fun: The "world-famous haircutter" Jay...something wears a tuxedo that has as many sequins as Missy's dress. - MX vs. Pillman/Zenk is probably MOTN, and Steiners/Doom is very fun too. They've both been fairly well-covered in the Yearbook sections. Eaton in particular is just super-sharp--the side-pickup slingshot back breaker is absurd. It's weird to see so many face finisher kickouts (legdrop, elbowdrop, rocket launcher) with no saves. But the Cornette-less story in general is great. - Steiners/Doom has a hot start and finish, but loses a bit in the middle. Top-notch heeling from Doom and Teddy, oddly well-miked for the occasion. Great high-end stuff and brawling. - Flair/Luger is really cooking for awhile IMO, but the finish is just so off-the-rails it stops the proceedings dead. Gigante and the earlier Robocop come off as complete nonsense. And they add such a weird, bad taste that I think this is the worst PPV in my 89-90 WCW rewatch to date, and so far as I recall the worst since Bunkhouse Stampede. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruiserBrody Posted November 11, 2014 Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/wcw-clash-of-the-champions-17/#.VGIRXMmmXjIOne of the more noteworthy Clashes sees Rick Rude battle Sting for the US title, Ricky Steamboat's epic return-teaming with Dustin Rhodes vs. The Enforcers, Luger defending against Rick Steiner, Cactus Jack vs. Van Hammer, Steve Austin vs. PN Newz and more! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted November 11, 2014 Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 Emma versus Paige from NXT Arrival, and it only served to make me disappointed that WWE is doing absolutely nothing with a super talented worker like Emma. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilTLL Posted November 11, 2014 Report Share Posted November 11, 2014 I don't know exactly which Valentine/Santana matches are most talked-about, but 10/22/84 is on the Network, and it is a fantastic, desperately-hateful brawl that I could have watched for 30 minutes but ends much sooner than that. Right after the blade job, actually--a pet peeve of mine just because it seems such a waste, but not a huge deal because it fits the goal and the match's place in the feud here. Valentine gives Santana almost everything, including eating a really wicked thrown chair to the face, and Santana runs with it like hell, leaving Valentine and Hart scurrying for cover and the crowd absolutely starving. A browse through historyofwwe around that time shows one and only one match of Santana/Slaughter vs Valentine/Sheik, 10/29/84 in Etobicoke, Ontario, that might have been a lot of fun if everyone was feeling motivated. It also shows that the 10/22 match was only 6 minutes long. Holy cow. I have the last few exhausted minutes only of the 11/26 curfew draw on the Coliseum History of the IC Title, and it is likewise great. I'll have to poke around for the full cut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Emma versus Paige from NXT Arrival, and it only served to make me disappointed that WWE is doing absolutely nothing with a super talented worker like Emma. All of the women's matches on the NXT specials have been excellent, especially Charlotte vs. Natalya. Charlotte vs. Bailey was a lot of fun too, but I'm dreading any of them being called up for 2-minute Raw matches and lost-in-the-shuffle 8-woman tags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillThompson Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 At this point I wish WWE would change their mind and release Emma. I'd much rather see her do her thing in SHIMMER, SHINE, or WSU than be stuck in two minute match hell on Raw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rovert Posted November 12, 2014 Report Share Posted November 12, 2014 Emma versus Paige from NXT Arrival, and it only served to make me disappointed that WWE is doing absolutely nothing with a super talented worker like Emma. I like Emma but super talented? Her Arrival match was great stuff absolutely no question but when she was signed people who knew her indie worker were like "HER?" when reacting to her signing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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